Murray Walker... but not a fast car in sight!
HE may be only two – but pint-size hill climber Murray Walker is certainly living up to his name
The mini- mountaineer has already scaled a 1,722ft summit and now plans to take on his first Munro.
He spends every day walking in the Ochil Hills near his home in Alva, Clackmannanshire, training for his big trek.
Murray has his own tiny boots and walking stick and carries a plentiful supply of his favourite cheese and ham sandwiches in his backpack.
His mother, 24-year-old make-up artist Louise Wallace-Huggan, said he has been unstoppable since he started walking on his first birthday. She added: ‘Even when I was pregnant, he never stopped moving. He’s Walker by name and walker by nature.’
Murray has already conquered 1,371ft Dumyat and The Nebit, at 1,722ft, both in the Ochils.
On long walks with Miss Wallace-Huggan and his brewery worker father Michael Walker, 35, he never needs carrying as he’s ‘fiercely independent’.
Miss Wallace-Huggan said: ‘I used to climb when I was younger, but I gave up when Murray was born. But he’s got me back on the hills. Michael and I spend most weekends climbing.
‘Now Murray’s training for his first Munro. We reckon he’ll bag one shortly after he turns three in October, if the weather’s good.’
A Munro is a Scots mountain over 3,000ft, named after Sir Hugh Munro, who compiled the list of peaks in 1891. Miss Wallace-Huggan’s father, Geoff Huggan, 56, a storeman with a local motor franchise, is a hillwalker too.
She said: ‘It has to be in the genes. But who knows where he gets the energy from.
‘If Murray wants to climb Everest when he’s older, I’ll probably go with him. Partly because I want to and also to keep an eye on him.’